"Financial gain should be the most important factor in choosing a [b]career. " [b]Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion stated [b]above. Support your views with reasons and/or examples from your own [b]experience, observations, or reading.（理想和现实） [b][b][b]Financial gain is certainly one factor to consider when selecting a [b]career. [b]But many people do not, and should not, focus on this factor as the main [b]one. The role that money plays in career choice should depend on the [b]priorities, goals and values of the particular person making the choice, [b]The main problem with selecting a career primarily on the basis of money [b]is [b]that for many people to do so would be to ignore one's personal values, [b]needs, and larger life goals. Indeed, many people appreciate this notion [b]when they choose their career. For example, some people join one of the [b]helping professions, such as nursing, teaching or social work, well aware [b]that their career will not be financially lucrative. Their choice properly [b]stems from an overriding altruistic desire, not from an interest in [b]financial gain. Others choose to pursue intellectual or creative [b]fulfillment-as writers, artists, or musicians-knowing that they are [b]trading [b]off dollars for non-tangible rewards. Still others forego economic gain to [b]work as full- time parents; for these people, family and children are of [b]paramount importance in life. Finally, many people subordinate economic [b]prospects to their desire to live in a particular location; these people [b]may place a high value on recreation, their physical health, or being near [b]a circle of friends. [b][b]Another problem with focusing primarily on money when selecting a career [b]is [b]that it ignores the notice that making money is not an end in and of [b]itself, but rather a means of obtaining material goods a| services and of [b]attaining important goals-such as providing security for oneself and one's [b]family lifelong learning, or freedom to travel or to pursue hobbies. [b]Acknowledging the distinction, one may nevertheless select a career on the [b]basis of money-since more money can buy more goods and services as well as [b]the security, freedom, and time to enjoy them. Even so, one must strike a [b]balance, for if these things that money is supposed to provide are [b]sacrificed in the pursuit of money itself, the point of having money-and [b]of [b]one's career selection-has been lost. [b][b]In conclusion, economic gain should not be the overriding factor in [b]selecting a career. While for a few people the single-minded pursuit of [b]wealth may be fulfillment enough, most people should, and indeed do, [b]temper [b]the pursuit of wealth against other values, goals, and priorities. [b]Moreover [b]they recognize that money is merely a means to more important objectives, [b]and that the pursuit itself may undermine the achievement of these [b]objectives. [b]